Saturday, March 10th, 2001 TALK OF THE TOWN By AIDAN CORR It's a long way from Clair to here. Raymond O'Sullivan was born in Waterford in 1946 which means he will be 55 on December 1st of this year. He has worn well. Slim, has a healty crop of Afro-style hair and has lost none of the tuneful and high ranging singing voice that made Gilbert O'Sullivan a household name during the 1970s. Speaking to Gilbert this week from his home in Jersey, he comes through as a serious-minded guy. He protects his songs and music with a rigid determination that has seen him succeed in two litigation hearings, one of which lasted for five years and at one time threatened to ruin his career. Gilbert is like a dog with a bone when it comes to music issues. He hung in tenaciously during a much publicised High Court battle, winning substantial damages against his former manager, Gordon Mills and had all his master tapes and copyrights returned to him. It was a milestone verdict that other top stars, including Elton John, later availed of. It was ironic that Gilbert had to go to court against the man who had mapped the course of his success in the world of pop music. His first British number one song, 'Clair,' was written about Mills' daughter of the same name. He followed this with another number one hit, 'Get Down,' and by the end of the 1970s, O'Sullivan had caught the imagination of the world of pop. "I'm looking forward to returning to Limerick's University Concert Hall on Tuesday, March 27 as part of my Irish tour," Gilbert told me. "I played there in 1995 and it's a nice venue. I've just returned from a tour of Australia and Japan. It was my first time visiting these regions as I turned down offers during my boom days, preferring to stay in Europe and write more material at the time. I suppose I could be described as a prolific songwriter and my talent has not yet dried up. I write all my own songs but you have to have tremendous discipline to stay in this business where there are more doors shut in your face as you get older. "I love words. I love playing with words and I come from the Spike Milligan school of literature. I was never that good at English at the St John of God School in Waterford. My mother sang but there was no real musical talent in my background. I don't read music but I absolutely love it. I was influenced by The Beatles since the early 1960s and I always wanted to be successful on a global level but had no real ambition to make money. I am a home person, a bit of a hermit really and live happily in Jersey with my wife and daughters, Tara (16) and Helen-Marie (20). We lived in Bunclody for four years. I have my own 42-track recording studio attached to my home. My daughters have travelled with me to some gigs but I would not encourage either of them to follow in their father's footsteps. The early days of rock 'n' roll ignited a spark in me. I started as a drummer in a band in Waterford, formed my own group soon after and went on to serve my musical apprenticeship." The family emigrated to England when Gilbert was seven years old and set up a new life in Swindon. Gilbert went to art school, enjoyed the new-found freedom and used it to develop his natural talents as a song-writer and lyricist. He is very much the writer who is constantly learning and his enthusiasm to write songs and perform is now as intense as ever in his career: "I have been asked to write a musical but I fear that it may be out of my depth. I am currently on a very quiet treadmill, the pace of life at present suits me but even when involved in that long litigation I kept on writing songs, but maybe not of the same quality. "I still want to be more successful although I am totally happy in life and am financially secure. Music is a tough business and the older you are the harder you have to fight. I designed my own image when I started out. I was never that attractive with my baggy pants and cloth cap, but it caught on." Gilbert O'Sullivan has had fourteen top forty hits during the 1970s, with number one singles on both sides of the Atlantic as well as four top five UK albums. 'Alone Again' has the distinction of being one of the most played records on American radio with over 4 million plays logged. Involved in litigation during the 1980s, Gilbert re-emerged during the next decade with 'In the Key of G' cd and since then has produced five new albums. In the summer of 1998 he returned to the UK stage with a selection of live shows with his new band and tours of Australia and Japan followed. Now Gilbert O'Sullivan and a three-piece band and set for a short tour of Ireland that will include visits to Galway, Dublin and Cork as well as to the University Concert Hall in Limerick on Tuesday, March 27. Copyright © 2001 The Limerick Leader.